The last time Sandis Ozolinsh was healthy and scratched from the lineup for a Rangers game at the Garden, he all but thanked Tom Renney for making the decision.

That was Game 4 of last year’s playoffs against the Devils and it came at a time when Ozolinsh, a target of the Garden gallery, was booed every time he touched the puck in Game 3.

“There was relief when I told Sandis,” Renney said at the time.

But it was a different scenario yesterday, even though Ozolinsh was a healthy scratch for last night’s match at the Garden against the Panthers in the Rangers’ first home game since the defenseman was restored to active duty following rehab from offseason knee surgery.

“I think he was disappointed not to get the chance to get in there and show what he could do,” Renney said yesterday morning. “But after he played as well as he did in Toronto on Saturday, I think it’s in Sandis’ best interests to get a chance to string a number of games together on the road to give him a real good base of confidence.” The Rangers are carrying eight defensemen. All of them will accompany the club on the four-game trip to Phoenix, Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose that begins Saturday night against the Coyotes. It’s not likely all will remain on the roster when the team returns home for a Nov. 5 match against the Sabres, who may even have a lost a game by then.

Thomas Pock joined Ozolinsh in street clothes last night. It was the fourth straight time Renney had scratched the 24-year-old defenseman, but the head coach said the decision was not so much a reflection on Pock as recognizing the need to evaluate veterans Darius Kasparaitis, Marek Malik (who missed Saturday’s 5-4 win in Toronto after undergoing root canal and after being booed by the Garden crowd throughout most of last Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to Nashville after a series of blunders) and Karel Rachunek, all of whom have struggled and all of whom are in jeopardy because of salary-cap considerations.

“I think I’m familiar enough with Thomas’ game, while at the same time [management] has to be clear about what we’re doing,” Renney said following the morning skate.

“Hence, Thomas is in the situation as it now stands.

“We’re at the point now where we’re looking very closely [at possible roster decisions]. Everyone has a very clear picture of what we expect both individually and as a team.”

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The Rangers opened with the same line combinations that had mixed success in Saturday’s 5-4 shootout victory over the Maple Leafs. That meant Martin Straka centered Jaromir Jagr and Petr Prucha; Blair Betts skated between Matt Cullen and Brendan Shanahan; Michael Nylander centered Nigel Dawes and Jason Ward; and Ryan Hollweg was the pivot for Marcel Hossa and Adam Hall.

“This could be a temporary approach, but I think these lines are a little bit more conscious defensively, breaking it down position by position,” Renney said. “Not that Michael isn’t, but Straks is very cognizant of the need to get back; Bettsie, of course, is defensively aware, and having Wardo with Michael is a help on the defensive side.

“I’m hoping we’re going to get the best of both worlds and we get production without sacrificing anything on the other side of the puck.”